The personal information of several Metro Public Health Department clients has been misplaced and probably is gone for good, the department said.

Health department officials said they noticed index cards containing the names, birthdates and Social Security numbers of some Children’s Special Services clients were missing, according to a department release.

After an internal investigation, health officials said the index cards probably were thrown away and sent to a landfill. The department sent out letters to each person whose data was missing.

The information contained on the index cards probably was not compromised, but the department still offered identity protection services to every person affected by the incident.